Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-08-20

AL ILLS biiiIt We WtlG tOutlnutllJ dSttuu-
ing at the rate of about 100 feet every ten
miles. Indeed, the country was on slope
which appeared to terminate at mass Of
snow tipped mountains, for which we were
steering, and where We learned the second
lake, of which the wanderer had spoken as
the lake without bottom, was situated At
length we arrived there, and having ascer-
tanned that there was a large lake on the top
of the mountains, assembled 5000 feet more
till we came to precipitous cliff or edge, to
find great sheet of water, some twenty miles
square, lying 500 feet below us and evidently
occupying an extinct volcanic crater OF
craters of vast extent Perceiving villages
on the border of this lake. we descended with
great difficulty through forests of pine trees,
which now clothed the precipitous sides of
the crater and were well received by the
people, simple, unwarlike folk, who had
never seen or even heard of white man be-
fore, and treated us with great reverence
and kindness, supplying us with as much
food and milk as we could eat and drink.
This wonderful and beautiful lake lay, ac-
cording to our aneroid, at height of no less
than II $50 feet above sea level, and its eli
mate was quite cold, and not at all unlike
that of England Indeed for the first three
days of our stay there we saw little or
nothing of the scenery, on account of an I'M
mistakable Scotch mist which prevailed. 1t
was this rain that set the tsetse poison work
ing in our remaining donkeys, SO that they
ali died.
This disaster left us in a very awkward po-
sition, as we had now no means of transport
whatever, though, on the other hand, we had
not much to carry. Ammunition, too, was
very short amounting to but $50 rounds of
rifle cartridges and some fifty shotgun car
tridges How to get on we did not know; in
deed it seemed to us that we bad about
reached the end of our tether. Even if we
had been inclined to abandon the object Of
our search, which, shadow as it was, was by
no means the case, it was ridiculous to think
Of forcing our way back some 200 miles to the
coast in our present plight; SO we came to the
conclusion that the only thing to be done was
to stop where we were-the natives being so
well disposed and food plentiful-for the pres
emit, and abide events and try to collect infor-
nation as to the countries beyond
Accordingly, having purchased a capital
log canoe, large enough to hold us all and
our Baggage, from the headman of the VII
lage we were staying in, presenting him with
three empty cold drawn brass cartridges by
way Of payment, with which he was perfectly
delighted, we set out to make a tour of the
lake in order to find the most favorable place
to make a camp AS we did not know If we
should return to this village, we put all our
gear into the canoe, and also quarter OF
cooked water buck which when young is deli
cious eating, and OF we set, natives having
already gone before us in light canoes TO warn
the inhabitants of the other villages Of our
approach
Ac wal neran IN n POpCiHQrr-
BILE accumulation of floating rushes, weed,
boughs of trees and other rubbish, brought,
| Good supposed, to this spot by some current,
which he was much puzzled to account for.
While we were specializing about this, Sir
| Henry pointed out a flock of large white
| swans, which were feeding on the drift some
| little way ahead Of u.s. Now | had already
! noticed swans flying about this lake, and
| having never come across them before in
| Africa, was exceedingly anxious to obtain a
| specimen. | had questioned the natives
| about them, and learned that til y came from
over the mountain, always arriving at certain
| periods of the year in the early morning,
! when it was very easy 10 catch them, on ac.
count of their exhaust condition.
Well, we set to work 10 stalk the swans
| which kept drawing as they fed nearer and
nearer to the precipice, and at last we pushed
| the canoe under shelter OF patch Of drift
| within forty yards of them. Sir Henry had
| the shotgun loaded with No l. and waiting
| for chance got two in line, and, firing at
! their neclls, killed them both. Up rose tie
rest, thirty or more of them, with mighty
| fplashing, and, as they did so, lie gave them
! the other barrel Down came one fellow with
! a broken wing, and saw the Leg of another
drop and few feathers start out Of his back
! Int o ON, no tla
swans, circling ever higher till at last they
Were mere specks level with the top Of the
frowning precipice, when / saw them form
into a triangle and head OFF for the unknown
northeast. Meanwhile we had picked up our
two dead ones, and beautiful birds they were,
weighing not less than about thirty pounds
each, and were chasing the winged one,
| which bad scrambled over a mass Of drift
weed into a pool of clear water beyond.
Finding a difficulty in forcing the canoe
through the rubbish, told our only remain
| ing Wakwaf servant, whom / knew to be an
excellent swimmer, to jump over, dive under
the drift, and catch him, knowing that as
there were no crocodiles in this lake he could
come TO no harm Entering into the fun OF
the thing the man did so, and soon was dodg.
ing about after the winged swan in fine style
getting gradually nearer TO the rock wall
against which the water washed as he did so.
Suddenly he gave up swimming after the
swan, and began TO cry out that lie was being
carried away; and indeed we saw that, though
he was swimming with all his strength toward
us he was being drawn slowly toward the
precipice. With few desperate strokes Of
our paddles we pushed the canoe through the
crust Of drift and rowed toward the man a.
hard as we could, but, fast as we went, ht
uses drawn faster toward the rock. Suddenly